Incra Router Table - Use Frame or Not?

[Adrian Anguiano]

My shop is overgrown and I need storage space. So its time to have storage on my router table.

I currently have the Incra LS System with the Top, Frame, and Wheel Kit.

So should I ditch the frame and build the table from scratch and just keep the top? Keep the top and the wheel kit, and just build the cabinet? I'm torn. One thing for sure is my LS Table top is cupped and dips in the middle.. and needs to be shimmed when I reinstall it. I state this just incase it affects your suggestions.

Only thing that worries me with using the frame is the difficulty with having to make the ends 1/2" to slide down the metal frame slots so it will look flush. And I guess just 1/2" plywood wouldnt be enough to hold drawers and such.. so i guess id need to strengthen it somehow.

What yall think?

[ian maybury]

Hi Adrian. The route I went with the Incra trolley was to build my own dust box, but use commercially available metal cabinets. (gratuitous photo opportunity, see below :))

I found some at Ikea which when screwed to the trolley floor fitted very nicely, and are OK - but would not tolerate rough handling. (typical Ikea) Chances are with the choice you guys have in the US that you could find an alternative. Try stationery as well as tool cabinet places - the former seem to use a lot of that pattern. Ignore the extra end mounted dust hose unless you get a lot of airflow from your dust system.

It'll use a little more material and space, but free standing drawer units may be a good option even if you go all DIY - it'd mean that if you change your mind down the road you can easily do so and use a cabinet for another job in the shop.

Whether you go DIY or something like above you need to lay it all out carefully as it's ideally a very close fit. Don't forget that you can alter the positioning of the router opening relative to the trolley top by moving the table top around. There's also freedom (depending on the table height you go for) to raise or lower the lower stretchers (?) a bit too to change the size of the side opening. Finally make sure that whatever door you fit into the dust cabinet clear the frame to open.

The 1/2 in ply/MDF panels in the Incra trolley won't add a lot structurally - they just drop into slots in the extrusions. It's not an issue with free standing cabinets though. Positioning a cabinet against a corner post ensures it all stays vertical.

My Incra table (the table itself is about 2yrs old, it's been built on to the trolley for about 6m) has so far stayed within a thou or two of dead flat measured with a feeler gauge and a good straight edge.

There's some subtleties to giving an MDF top the best chance to stay flat - given that the material will deform over time if it's left under load. You probably know this already.

Whether DIY or a commercial unit it's important that the trolley ends up assembled so that the pieces of timber or steel steel comprising the top 'stretchers' that are screwed to the top all end up accurately in the same plane. You can shim locally with paper and the like, but better not if you can avoid it as it will only provide local support.

The same applies to the dust box. If its top surface is flat and it's well seated and attached to the underside of the table at multiple points all around the router plate opening (i used small metal L brackets and screws) it can play a big part in holding everything flat too. Or vice versa if it's not.

I assembled the trolley on the floor, but only lightly nipped up the screws holding the angle pieces to the legs. Then aligned the trolley off the underside of the table.

i.e. having laid the top working surface down on a machine table the first step was to check that it was flat. Next was to position the loosely assembled trolley on it legs up, and start the screws through the angles that hold the top on. (5th photo) Next was to loosen the bolts holding the legs to the angles, and screw the angle down tight to the underside of the table. Finally (after ensuring the legs were vertical) the corner bolts fixing them to the angles were done up tight. Then in with the dust box.

The point was to ensure that the angle pieces and the dust box were allowed to do their job of holding the top straight, but that they didn't as a result of my accidentally building either assembly out of flat act to distort it. (a leg poking up a bit, or not square to an angle, or an out of flat top to the dust box would have had that effect)

It's not (depending in how you look at these things) necessarily high on the street cred versus a DIY unit, but I appreciated the convenience of the Incra trolley. The table is well made, convenient and I suspect is as stable as any other thick MDF type. Getting the support frame and dust box top flat to it so they hold it straight seems as above likely to count for a lot - and in this situation the slightly flexible/dead nature of MDF is probably actually an asset.

It'd probably be possible to add a couple of extra support angles underneath along two sides of the router plate opening too if there proved to be any tendency for it to drop under the weight of the router, but I've seen none yet.

ian

233117233118233119233123233120233121233122

[Adrian Anguiano]

Ian,
In short - Thanks for the great info!!!!!

Now i just need someone that went the other way without the frame to have the inverse opinion. Anyone?